- Avik Chakraborty
Flood and erosion is the main priority of State cabinet minister and Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan.Phukan stated while releasing BJP’s Sanklap Patra ahead of Assembly polls on Friday.Speaking to reporters, Phukan said, “We are fully committed to work for the all round development of Assam. In our manifesto, we have especially given stress to solve the flood and erosion problem,”.
“Dibrugarh has been battling with flood and erosion, so, our government has given top priority to resolve the decade old problem,” Phukan stated.He said, “We will soon bring a bench of High court in Dibrugarh which is a long pending demand of the people. People from upper Assam will not go to Guwahati High Court for submitting documents or case,”.”Dibrugarh Airport will be transformed into international Airport. Our government has been working for the infrastructure development of Dibrugarh,”
The BJP’s dominance began in 2006 when Prasanta Phukan scripted history as the first saffron candidate to win here, defeating Congress MLA Dr Kalyan Kumar Gogoi by a mere 175 votes. Since then, Phukan has turned the seat into an impregnable fortress.His winning margins have grown exponentially, from 19,609 votes in 2011 to a staggering 38,005-vote lead over the Congress in 2021.
However, the road to a fifth term is not without hurdles. Despite Phukan’s popularity, local grievances regarding urban infrastructure persist. Residents continue to voice frustration over chronic waterlogging and the incomplete work of the Dibrugarh Town Protection (DTP) Drain.Dibrugarh’s electoral history is a tale of shifting loyalties. Since 1972, the Congress has claimed the seat six times, the BJP four times, and the Janata Party once. The constituency is also famously associated with the legacy of Keshab Chandra Gogoi, father of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. The elder Gogoi won the seat thrice for the Congress and once for the Janata Party, briefly serving as the Chief Minister of Assam in 1982.